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Jul 26th, 2010 at 00:30:30 - Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (Arcade) |
(Played 7/25)
This time when I was playing Grand Theft Auto, I was paying attention to the female characters in the game. The strength of women depended on their role. Strength is usually associated with men. There was a very different response if I attacked a prostitute versus a non-prostitute. If I attacked a prostitute, she attacked me back with a gun and used more aggressive language. If I attacked a non-prostitute, she ran away and used defensive language. The role of the prostitute is obviously a sexualized role. This sexualized role would appeal more to males than to females. Prostitutes are stronger than non-prostitutes. They have a more masculine role as it is being constructed into a male realm as they simultaneously take on a sexualized role.
After thinking about the representation of women, particularly prostitutes, I began thinking about the creation of this game within the male realm. Games made for men are often violent and may have sexualized female characters. The moral issue is if it’s wrong to perpetuate violence and sexualized women in video games made for men. Also, what is the responsibility of a company in the product they produce?
Looking at it from a utilitarian perspective, happiness is the only thing that matters. The consumers would be happy because the game supports the violence and sexuality they want from a game. The company would be happy because they are making the most profit by giving their consumers what they want. There is a limited amount of unhappy people because consuming the product is a choice. So with this perspective, it is not unethical to make a product that perpetuates something that is otherwise considered unethical in society.
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Jul 25th, 2010 at 20:08:41 - Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (Arcade) |
(Played on 7/21)
When I was playing Grand Theft Auto, I did not like stealing vehicles to make traveling more convenient. I did not want to steal them because making the choice to steal them made me feel like, through the character, I was a bad person. I also did not want to steal them because that created other characters to exhibit violence toward me. However, I did not feel bad about stealing vehicles while I was being attacked, either shoot at or hit. I felt like it was less of a choice and was done out of necessity.
This brought up a moral dilemma of whether or not stealing was okay if it was out of necessity. From a relativist perspective, the game takes place in a culture of violence. I think stealing a car would be morally acceptable because safety would supersede property rights. If the value of the culture is safety, it is necessary to steal in order to uphold that value over others, and choice is minimized. Thus it is not ethically wrong to steal because stealing supports the cultural value.
Representation is also important to the ethical aspects of stealing. In a perspective broader than relativism, stealing is considered unethical in our society, supported by our laws. Police officers are a part of law. The police officers are represented as being unethical in the game, as they threaten to frame the main character for a crime he did not commit. As the representation of the law (police officers) is unethical, their role in the law is negated. As there is no ethical overseeing body of law enforcement, the responsibility of justice falls on individuals. The main character is represented as being a good person. At the introduction of the game, he is shown to be an upstanding citizen who does not participate in unethical criminal activity. Because he is represented as ethical, the activities he partakes in order to protect himself or enact justice are also ethical. When he steals vehicles, police officers chase him. But because of the way in which characters are represented, stealing vehicles out of necessity is not unethical.
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Kat has been with GameLog for 14 years, 8 months, and 12 days |
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